AVIATION AND MOTORCYCLES

[Captain]

I was involved in a safety discussion on these .............

Tubb,

 

 

 

I'd take an Armco barrier any day in preference to a cheese grater, and I have hit a couple of armcos, including at Mt Panorama in the '70's.

 

 

 

The answer is to take the Armco all the way to the ground and not leave that motorcyclist extrusion dye/die opening along the bottom.

 

 

 

The big discussion back when I was heavily involved was how do you stop guys from bouncing off the Armco barrier back onto the racing line and then getting cleaned up by following machines. I'd guess that the cheese grater type barrier would stop that as you would be wrapped around those vicious little green posts that seem to deform but stay in place even when a truck has cleaned them up and the wire has been stretched.

 

 

 

The biggest issue at Mt Panorama, apart from no run-off except at Murrays and Hell corners, was that the channel posts that supported the Armco stuck up about an inch above the top of the Armco and the posts had been cut off leaving a rough serrated edge from a wobbly hand held oxy cutter, so if you came off & slid along the top of the armco, the protruding channels would fillet you.

 

 

 

Regards Geoff

 

 

[fly_tornado]

Hay bales could create a whole new economy for all those displaced auto workers and drought affected farmers becoming self sufficient with discarded hay. Its a win win. I can't think of any downsides, might have to give Barnaby a call.

 

 

[turboplanner]

The biggest issue at Mt Panorama, apart from no run-off except at Murrays and Hell corners, was that the channel posts that supported the Armco stuck up about an inch above the top of the Armco and the posts had been cut off leaving a rough serrated edge from a wobbly hand held oxy cutter, so if you came off & slid along the top of the armco, the protruding channels would fillet you.

In speedway we found a number of deaths were cause by cars sliding along the top of the safety fence. The fence was no problem but the posts protruding up produced head injuries, so we made it mandatory that posts never exceed the fence height.

 

 

[Oscar]

Never hit Armco myself, but I'd take it in preference to the cheese-cutters. Got way too close one time to finding out if I was right on a wayward CBX1000 for the comfortable and relaxed status of my cloaca at rather more than enough speed to cause one of those 'frozen-time, oh shit, this is going to be very, very bad' moments. Our Blessed Mother of a full right-hand of throttle got me out of it, but when you're 65 kgs on top of 265 or so kgs, you really know that you're just along for the ride..

 

 

[Oscar]

Glider pilots often have sailing in their lives......Peter

Never made that connection myself - but a (not current) glider pilot and owned and raced an Adams 10 for a couple of years... they are very similar mental and physical disciplines (in terms of 'feeling' lift/wind, for sure). Took a gliding mate all of 10 minute's experience on the tiller to be able to tack efficiently.

 

 

[Oscar]

Don't you mean "Satans Residence, if I had been astride the Gallus gallus domesticus I would certainly have had enough time between when impact became inevitable and actual impact to dismount, rapidly stride ahead and draw some freehand circles on the wall in a disorganized representation of a target, then hasten back to Gallus Gallus domesticus remount and prepare for the above mentioned inevitable impact!

Absolutely! But I only managed about 15% in my Intermediate Certificate Latin, so I'd have missed a warm dinner while trying to get it accurate, and I can't spell 'britannica' so I'm way behind the octagonally-enumerated spherical object here.

 

 

[facthunter]

Think sailing is common too. I did a fair bit as a kid in VJ's and a few catamaran's later in life, when available.. Nev

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Sensing which way the wind is blowing can be handy in domestic relationships too.

 

 

[Oscar]

Think sailing is common too. I did a fair bit as a kid in VJ's and a few catamaran's later in life, when available.. Nev

Hell (er, excuse me , Satan's Residence - love it..) this is getting a bit Spooky, Possums. One of three-up on a VJ, about two miles off Sydney Heads following the Sydney-Hobart fleet, when the Colin J Delaney hove to beside us and a crusty old Sergeant leaned over the side and said 'Got yer passports? Had yer inoculations?' 14-year-old squeak back: 'you'd like us to go back, then?' 'Yep'.

 

Owned an A-Class, taught my kids how to hoon around the bay at Pittwater on it... first boat I built was a Hartley 12-foot Cat that would plane in the right conditions on a 3/4 run with the forward hand out on trapeze.

 

 

[dazza 38]

I'm with Geoff, the Armco should have been taken all the way to the ground. What happens now is that the riders slip under the Armco and get cleaned up by the Armco mounting posts.

 

 

[facthunter]

There are places where it does go right to the road surface, and looks about the best option to me. Nev

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

There are places where it does go right to the road surface, and looks about the best option to me. Nev

...but this is Australia. A rich country where everything is done on the cheap.

 

 

[deeceej]

Yep. L plates on a Kwaka 1000, those were the days,....followed by a long line of Guzzis, currently Lemans3 in the shed and Triumph Sprint 955 for daily use, it's the closest thing to flying I can manage at the moment.

 

Looking forward to one day riding a hummelbird.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Yep. L plates on a Kwaka 1000, those were the days,....followed by a long line of Guzzis, currently Lemans3 in the shed and Triumph Sprint 955 for daily use, it's the closest thing to flying I can manage at the moment.Looking forward to one day riding a hummelbird.

Crikey, another bloke who rode proper motorcycles! There are a few Guzzi lovers on the forum. One even flies behind a mighty V-50!

 

 

[M61A1]

Hay bales could create a whole new economy for all those displaced auto workers and drought affected farmers becoming self sufficient with discarded hay. Its a win win. I can't think of any downsides, might have to give Barnaby a call.

I have no idea how this would work, but it's so unfeasible, I'm sure the govt would give it a go. You won't grow much hay in a drought, once the hay has begun to rot, it's useless as feed. Even if they use available hay sources, the market for hay would then be inflated, and there wouldn't be any affordable hay for stock, they start growing crops just to produce hay (it's in demand) instead of food crops . Then the price of cereals and meat goes up, people complain about the cost of living and then want pay rises, it's starting to hurt my head.

 

 

[M61A1]

I'm with Geoff, the Armco should have been taken all the way to the ground. What happens now is that the riders slip under the Armco and get cleaned up by the Armco mounting posts.

I'm not sure it matters what you've got, someone will always find a way to hit in a manner which will kill them. I read(Rapid Magazine) about a guy's wife falling off the back of a bike, after she repositioned herself mid corner, and put the rider off line at quite a low speed, got some gravel, clipped the Armco then broke her neck when she landed on top of it.

The worst part for the rider was that the cops then tried to charge him with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. Apparently it was thrown out of court almost immediately, but I imagine that it would still be rather stressful, especially when still coming to grips with your wife's death.

 

 

[PA.]

I have no idea how this would work, but it's so unfeasible, I'm sure the govt would give it a go. You won't grow much hay in a drought, once the hay has begun to rot, it's useless as feed. Even if they use available hay sources, the market for hay would then be inflated, and there wouldn't be any affordable hay for stock, they start growing crops just to produce hay (it's in demand) instead of food crops . Then the price of cereals and meat goes up, people complain about the cost of living and then want pay rises, it's starting to hurt my head.

Prices of Corn have gone up in the states as they are using it to make Ethanol and the Mexicans can't now afford to buy it.

I understand there is this black goo they can get out of the ground that is almost useless for any other purpose (except for making plastics, resins and the like) which can be modified with less energy than it takes to convert Corn to Ethanol and can then be used to power planes, trains and automobiles. It'll never catch on.

 

 

[Captain]

I have no idea how this would work, but it's so unfeasible, I'm sure the govt would give it a go. You won't grow much hay in a drought, once the hay has begun to rot, it's useless as feed. Even if they use available hay sources, the market for hay would then be inflated, and there wouldn't be any affordable hay for stock, they start growing crops just to produce hay (it's in demand) instead of food crops . Then the price of cereals and meat goes up, people complain about the cost of living and then want pay rises, it's starting to hurt my head.

To retain their integrity through wind, rain and drought, perhaps the hay bales could be covered by surplus Commodore head-lining or upholstery once General Motors departs and stitched by previous Holden or Toyota employees ............. except on Fridays or Mondays when the fish are biting. It would be an Industricus Winus-Winus situation, as we often say in Latin, down the pub.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

hay bales! 107 years of the IOMTT has proven their effectiveness

Hay bales ?. . . . yeah,. . .they're effective OK, so long as you don't hit them on yer bike. . , but try hitting one at the end of the cronky voddy straight doing 140 / 150 mph and it's the only thing between you and a dry stone wall. . . ( lots of these on the Island course ). . . ..hmmmmm don't take the Isle of Man as a benchmark for rider safety, geez, most international riders won't go near the place. we usually lose one or two good, experienced riders and a half dozen international visitors every year, which gives you some idea of how bloody downright dangerous road racing can be. Still.. . . I suppose they have do do SOMETHING to slightly reduce the impact, but I know NOTHING of the "Cheesecutter" barriers I've read about on this thread, since I last rode a bike in Australia in 1981. . . . . .

 

Has anyone got a piccy for phil'z eddification ? ? ? ? ? ? ( Now,. . .DON'T GO AND GET YOURSELF RUN DOWN BY A MACK TRUCK TRYING TO TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH OF A CRASH BARRIER JUST FOR ME. . . .!!! ) The local drivers will think you're a plane registration spotter. . . . .or some kind of traffic pervert. . . .

 

Perhaps they should erect a load of special road signs as they do at the IOMTT,. . . . "Immer links fahren bitte" this means, in German, "DRIVE ON THE LEFT YOU BLOODY LOONEYS " there are a lot of German visitors there, in fact, without their patronage the TT would not have survived as it gets hardly ANY media coverage from the UK . . . . But in the Australian case, it could be something like. . ." Wanna get shredded mate ? ? ? ? - then stay on the highway and don't hit me. . ."

 

Anyway. . . Ensuligensie bitte ( sorry ) for the thread drift but INCIDENTALLY. . this link doesn't seem to have been mentioned thus far. . . .. have you ever thought that people who ride motorcycles, ( and to a some extent. . .bicycles ) a lot, either already have,. . .or soon develop a strong sense of B A L A N C E . . . . . now, I wonder in which other dynamic petrolhead pastime this ability might be a bit handy. . . . ??

 

Answers on a postcard. . . .

 

Phil

 

 

[M61A1]

Here Phil.....have two.

 

 

 

 

[M61A1]

Prices of Corn have gone up in the states as they are using it to make Ethanol and the Mexicans can't now afford to buy it.I understand there is this black goo they can get out of the ground that is almost useless for any other purpose (except for making plastics, resins and the like) which can be modified with less energy than it takes to convert Corn to Ethanol and can then be used to power planes, trains and automobiles. It'll never catch on.

What happened to the "evil clown" AV?.... I liked that one.

 

 

[Captain]

 

 

 

What do you think of these Phil? How'd you like to slide into those at 100 kph or more .... or even have a car change lanes on you and push you into it while you are still on the bike?

 

 

[Bandit12]

Riding near it in heavy traffic is a bit concerning. Makes you prefer your chances surrounded by the cagers rather than in the outside lane near the wire.

 

 

[PA.]

What happened to the "evil clown" AV?.... I liked that one.

You mean Julia? I got rid of her last September.

 

 

[M61A1]

[ATTACH=full]27260[/ATTACH] You mean Julia? I got rid of her last September.

A bit unfortunate having the same name at that poor excuse for a PM we had, I don't think they look very similar. That one's way more attractive.